Fairfax to cut jobs in SA

Fairfax Media plans to cut 35 jobs at its South Australian regional operations as part of a restructure.

The move is aimed at revitalising its newspapers and websites across the state.

One free newspaper will close down and another will move from a bi-weekly to a weekly publication.

In details published on the Whyalla News website on Thursday, the company said the job losses would come from voluntary redundancies, 22 of which are expected to be in editorial and the rest in administration, sales and management.

The newspapers affected include the Whyalla News, Port Lincoln Times, the Murray Valley Standard, the Transcontinental Port Augusta and the Naracoorte Herald.

The Whyalla News will be published once a week instead of twice and Roxby Downs Sun, a free weekly paper, will be discontinued.

A commercial printing business in Bordertown, in SA's south-east, will also close.

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Fairfax said the distribution of other free papers the Barossa and Light Herald and the Flinders News would be "adjusted", without offering further details.

The cuts are part of an 18-month overhaul of the group's Australian Community Media (ACM) division.

"Our mastheads must embrace change to ensure they remain the most trusted source of news and information for years to come in the communities we serve," ACM director John Angilley said in a statement.

Fairfax said its proposals included equipping local journalists and sales teams with new technology and skills, introducing new ways of working, and refreshing and redesigning the company's stable of newspapers.